Hannah and the Chocolate Factory!

On our final day of fun in PA we hopped in the car and drove about 30 mins.  to visit the Hershey Chocolate Factory. We really had no idea what to expect but wow…..we were all impressed!  We purchased the package that we felt would be fun for all 4 of us.  It included the Great Chocolate Mystery in 4D, Hershey’s Great American Chocolate Tour and , Create Your Own Candy Bar.

Our first event was the 4D movie.  It was very well done and reminded us of movies and their special effects at Disney.

When the movie was done it was our group’s turn to create our own candy bars.  What fun!!

After watching in introduction movie we went to video screens and designed our candy bars online.  We were able to choose the base chocolate, 3 fillings and weather or not we wanted sprinkles on our bar.

Next it was time to scan our cards again and then follow our candy bars as they travelled along the conveyer belt, dropping in our chosen ingredients.   Hannah chose a white chocolate base and Mommy, milk chocolate.

Time for a chocolate bath.

While the bars were cooling we each had an opportunity to design the cover for our candy bar.  After that we headed back to the end of the line to watch our bars come out and have them packaged.

Making our own candy bars was such a neat activity and we had such fun!!

Our final activity was the chocolate tour.  The design of the ride reminded us of the Figment ride at Epcot.  It was neat to see all the steps that go into creating chocolate bars.

If you’re ever in the Hershey or Lancaster, PA area be sure to take time to visit the Chocolate Factory!!

Almost 20 years ago I began babysitting for friends Deb and Scott.  I’m not really sure how the tradition began but somehow the tradition of Scott and I taking chocolate home for the other each time we travel began.  We’ve both teased that the family many not receive souvenirs from all of our trips but neither of us would ever think of arriving home without chocolate for the other.  Heh!  Here is Hannah sharing the giant bar we bought for Uncle Scott.

Hannah giving Uncle Scott his chocolate bar the following week at church.  And yes, more chocolate than we care to admit has been consumed in church while waiting for the service to start!!

It’s worth the drive to Hershey!

A Visit to an Amish Village

Saturday morning after taking Nana to work, Hannah, Papa and I drove back to The Amish Village that we’d noticed the previous evening. 

We enjoyed a quiet morning there touring an Amish home, schoolhouse and more.  Our tour guide was a sweet Mennonite woman who had grown up Amish as a child. 

It was so interesting to learn much about the Amish lifestyle and their homes.  I was surprised to see a mixer similar to a Kitchen Aid in the kitchen.  She said that some families have gas generators to help with chores in the barn and families run air compressors from that and then power appliances such as mixers and fridges with air.  I thought that was neat!

When we left the home there was a barn with animals that could be fed.  Hannah was all over that.

One of the things we’d hoped to do this trip was take a ride with a horse and buggy.  This was as close as we got but it’s something fun to look forward to another visit.

One room schoolhouse.

Hannah looked so sweet sitting in this little desk.  They had some basic sentences on a paper on the desk and she was able to read them with a little help.  We are having such fun with her reading!

(The teacher at the schoolhouse gave us directions to quaint Amish bookstore called ‘Gordonville Books’.  We visited there after leaving here and I couldn’t believe how many wonderful books they had and such great prices too!  I purchased some pre-readers featuring ‘The Bobbsey Twins’ as well as a hard cover compilation of the ‘Dick and Jane’ stories I learned to read with many, many years ago!  Hannah is thoroughly enjoying them and we read them almost daily.)

Although we didn’t seen any of the infamous covered bridges that are scattered throughout the Lancaster area, we did walk through this little one at the village.

It was such a treat to learn more about the 30,000 Amish people that live in the Lancaster area.  After leaving the village we went our for a drive.  I know they don’t like people to take their picture so I respected that but I wish I’d caught a horse and buggy from that back after it passed by.  One thing we did see were these farm houses with huge lines of laundry drying in the wind.

My sweet little Amish girl!

If you have the opportunity to visit Lancaster, PA, please do!  It’s a picturesque area filled with beautiful people.  Hannah and I visited a farmer’s market in the afternoon and that was a neat experience too.

Lancaster – we’ll be visiting again for sure!

Sight & Sound Theatre, Lancaster, PA

Friday Nana worked half a day then we drove 2 hours further into PA to Lancaster.  Truly, this was our destination of choice this trip and we were not disappointed!!

The day we found out we were going to Lancaster we’d tried to get tickets for ‘Moses’ at the ‘Sight &  Sound Theatre’ but it was sold out.  Sharon continued to try often even though I’d given up on finding something.  She called me early last Saturday morning to say that the Friday night show had changed from ‘Sold Out’ to ‘Call Only.’  There was hope!  I called them at 8:30 on the Saturday morning expecting to find out the hours that their box office opened and was surprised to find out that the box office was already open and…they had 4 seats!  We were super excited even though truly we had no idea what to expect except that friends who had been there had raved about it!   I tell you, we were not disappointed!!  We arrived early so had an opportunity to take pictures without others around.

We picked up our tickets then shared supper of hot dogs and chips.   We just needed a little something before the show began and it hit the spot!

When we went into the theater we were wonderfully surprised that our seats were in the front section of the theater and even on an aisle!  They were perfect!  We were surrounded by bus tours so our guess is that a bus cancelled there reservation the week before the show as it opened up seats for ourselves and those around us. 

The theater is HUGE with a 300’ wrap-around stage and it seats more than 2,000 people at each performance.  The musical show was amazing and is performed up to 3 times a day!  Wow!  We loved being right on the aisle as live animals walked, jumped and ran right by us including sheep, goats, horses and even camels!!   A few parts were a little intense for Hannah but she’d hop into my lap at those moments and then she was okay as the story progressed.

When I think of the story of Moses I can’t help but think of the similarities of his beginnings and Hannah’s.  When I was praying about Hannah’s adoption I met with my pastor and he shared with me the story of Moses who was found and  raised by a single Mom.  That has never left me and places the story of Moses  in a special place in my heart.

If you’re ever in the Lancaster area I highly recommend going to see whatever show is playing in the Sight & Sound Theatre!!